Pregnancy abdominal pillow and casing



y 9 1953 A. LETO ETAL 1 2,562,725

PREGNANCY ABDOMINAL PILLOW AND CASING Filed July 24, 1947 Z'SHeets-Sheet 1 lnnentors Gttorneg July 31, 1951 A. LETO ETAL 2,562,725

PREGNANCY ABDOMINAL PILLOW AND CASING Filed July 24, 1947 '2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented July 31, 1951 PREGNANCY ABDOMINAL PILLOW AND CASING Armetia Leto, Long Island City, and Fanny Bartnik, Woodside, N. Y.

Application July 24, 1947, Serial No. 763,182

1 Claim.

The subject of this invention is a new and useful article of manufacture, in the nature of a body pillow and outer pillow casing for a patient while at home or in the hospital and lying in bed prior to giving birth to a child.

The new pillow, as preferably made, comprises a central section, to be laid under the expectant mother at the region of the small of the back and a pair of wing sections shaped to alleviate discomfort by presenting elevated portions to give support to the side walls of the stomach and against which the patient may more or less pressingly place the distended abdomen at either of the sides thereof by shifting her body as she lies supine or almost wholly or partially on one side of her body.

The new pillow is relatively slightly filled and with a material such as featherdown, kapok, etc., or any other suitable material, and its outer covering would be protected by the pillow casing similarly constructed of suitable covering material.

The new pillow is so arranged that with the weight of the patients body at its heaviest part resting on the central section, that section thereby will be anchored so that the side wings will always be in a proper position to give support to the side walls of the stomach and relief from discomfort even while the patient is lying flat or almost fiat on her back. Relaxation and sleeping of expectant mothers are facilitated, with consequent benefit to the nervous system and the general physiological condition of the patient, so vitally important during the last few months of pregnancy.

For further comprehension of the invention,

and of the objects and advantages thereof, reference will be had to. the following description and accompanying drawings, and to the ap pended claim in which the various novel features of the invention are more particularly set forth.

In the accompanying drawings forming a material part of this disclosure:

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing a now favored embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view thereof.

Fig. 3 shows the body pillow in end elevation.

Fig. 4 is, on a somewhat enlarged scale, a transverse section taken on the line 44 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 illustrates a modification.

Fig. 6 is a bottom perspective view of the body pillow in modified form.

Fig. '7 is a bottom perspective view of the body pillow and outer washable pillow case with the desired opening means.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the body pillow as a whole is marked I0.

The same comprises three main portions, one of which is the central section II for underlying the torso of the patient in the region of the small of the back, and the other two of which are like outlying portions or side wings 12, I2.

Said central section H need be merely of relatively small thickness. One of its purposes is to interpose between the mattress of the bed and the back of the patient a specially soft cushioning means, while another of its main purposes is to have it act as a structural link between the Wings l2, l2, to maintain the latter properly at both sides of the distended abdomen, and so that from time to time one wing or the other may be used to alleviate discomfort on turning of the patients torso to rest one side of the abdomen or the other mainly against or over a selected wing l2. Always the weight of the patients body, concentrated on the central section II, maintains both the wings properly in place- Each Wing l2 projects in opposite directions beyond the central section II, to provide a body pillow which in plan is H-shaped.

The wings I 2 are of considerably greater thickness than the central section II, with the maximum thickness of each of said wings in line with the center line of said central section.

Desirably, as shown, each wing 12 rises to maximum thickness away from the central section II, and tapers off in thickness toward its ends above and below the central section. Thus, while the central section II is substantially of pad-like uniform thickness all over, the main part of its area, each wing l 2 is convexly rounded at its top both longitudinally and laterally thereof. a

As here shown the casing for the entire pillow I0 is comprised of three separate sub-casings, one for each of the three sections l I and l2, l2; with each sub-casing separately stulTed with the filler M, the latter preferably'of the kind already mentioned. The casing material may be any suitably flexible one, as, for instance, a textile fabric.

The sub-casing for the central section H may be made of a single piece of casing material substantially rectangular in shape and of varying size to accommodate either small, medium or larger size needs, whereas the sub-casings l2, I2 may remain standard. The casing material is folded along its center line parallel with the direction in which said sub-casing H is to extend between the sub-casings for the sections [2, l2;

and its matched sides perpendicular with said center line are stitched together along their entire lengths.

Said piece of material as thus folded and stitched is inside out. Turning sub-casing H right side out will reveal the stitching shown at E and the unstitched edge parallel to the folded edge.

The sub-casing for each section [2 is made up of three more or less crescentiform pieces of. ma-i 2 .edge' thereof, is=similarly stitched to the. piece l8 along one edgelthereof, to provide in the sub- -.casing When turnediinside :out the seam 2|.

- Also, two end lengths. of theother edge of the QpieceEIB are stitchedto twoend lengths of the -'Iother 'edge of the piece l8," by stitching similar to that shown at---i9 in'; Fig-. 4, toprovide in the sub-casing when turned inside out the two seams .The. centralgapsbetween the two seams 22 on the. subecasing for a' section l2 provide openings through whicht-hefiller- [4 may be stuffed to the desiredamount intov said sub-casing.

i The sub-casing for thercentral section i i, having been. stuffed to thevdesired amount by Way of .its open end withzthe filler ,l 4, is inserted at one of its. endsinto .said centi'algap of thestufied subecasing forone of the sections 12. The edge portions of. the latter sub-casing marginal to .bothzsides of its gap are infolded, and a single line. ofstitching. 23 is applied to couple these two sub-casings-by a' seam'24' (Fig. 4) .which also .serves toupartition offthe'interiorsof' the subcasingsthus coupled.

The other: end of. the'casing .for .thecentral usection H having. been insertedinto said central gap of .thesub-casing. for the other. section l2, the edge portions of the latter sub-casingmarginal toibotlr sides of the gap are infolded, and asingle line. of s'titching'25. isv applied to 1 couple these-'tWorsub-casings by thehseam 26. similar to the seam 24. "'I'The casing construction mayabe variously modi- I lied.

For; instance;- referring. to .the:.mo.dified :body

pillow." Hlfshown in Fig. 5,..the sub:-casings for the two wing: sections i i 2 l2: maybe turned inside out before applying the stitching which as above ;provides'the-seamJengths-ZE at'theinner. side of each 'suchzsub-casing. L Then, .an. end :ofithe stufiedsub-casing forithe central section I ll; may 4 be properly "inserted into .the stufied sub-casing for azsection lZy-and merely one stitching 21 rrsmay beap'plied from end to" end of the latter sub-casing, first merely to 'lock' directly together the infolded marginal portions of the pieces of said sub-casingcorresponding tothepieces lfi'and l8,

up to the point where the inserted end of the sub-casing for the section II is reached, and

then to establish a'seam lengthexactly like the seam 24- as shown;in Fig. 4,.and then, beyond 4 the sub-casing last mentioned, again merely to lock directly together the infolded marginal portions of said pieces corresponding to the pieces [6 and I8.

The particular shapings of the pillow portions l l and l2, l2 as herein shown and described may be variously changed within the scope of the invention. The pillow as a whole will be made in sizes small, medium and large, according to the normal body measurements.

The casing may be made of the usual pillow yticking, in which case a washable pillow case, shaped to enclose the portions II and l2, l2 of .the body pillow, may be used.

Int-Fig. 6 a modified form of connection for the central casing section I I and the two wing sections l2, I2" is shown, which includes slide fasteners 24 and 26" for closing openings exitional stufling can-be placed within the sections tended along the connected edges of the sections sothat when-the slide fasteners are opened addi- H and: l2".. The Washableouter pillowcase |0".,= see Fig. 7, .enclosesthe pillow of Fig. 6 and has an opening along one .end thereof closed by a:slide.fastener:281so that the pillow can be aplaced within and removed from the outer casing. l0".

-While we have illustrated and described the preferred embodiments of our invention, it is to bev understood thatlwe do not limit ourselves to theipreciseconstructionsherein disclosed and the-right is reservedto all changes and modifica- (tions: coming withinthe scope of the invention as defined in the: appended claim.

Having thus described our invention, what we :claim as new'and desire to secure by United States i Lettels Patent is:

. An abdominal pillow .foruse during pregnancy,

- comprising a. stuffed: rectangular central. pillow section, a-pair. of: crescent-shaped outlying sections having spaced upper and lower outer edges,

said outlying. sections being of greater average :1 thicknessthan: the: centralssection'and connected along theirinner: edges to.the.outer edges ofsaid central section to forms. generally-H-shaped out- Iine-in plan, each'i ofsaid outlying sections havuppering'a-rounded outer wallconnecting its respective and lower "outer edges, said connected sectionson adjacent facesthereof being formed with openings throughwhichsaid sections may receive additional stuffing, and slide: fasteners secured to the mat'erialof 'said sections -defining saidiopen- {-ing's for closing the same.

ARMETIA LETO. 2- -BARTNIK.

:IQREFERENCES -CITED .The. following references are of record in the file. ofthis patent:

UNITED .STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,385,355 ."Banks July 26, 1921 2,183,418 "Williams Dec. 12, 1939 2,336,707 ;-;Thompson Dec. 14, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number country Date 57,906 .n'Norway Apr. 26, 1937 782,695 France June 8, 1935 

